I'm not surprised so many vehicles get scrapped for welding

[af1]

So my car failed it's MOT on structural rot

 

I also have another car on my driveway that needs a bit of welding so I thought if try and get them both done.

 

Phoned up the first company:

"Nah mate T reg is too old to weld"

 

2nd company

"Sorry T reg is much newer then anything else I'd touch"

 

3rd company no reply

 

4th a Mobile welder who states he lives about 15 miles away:

"I ain't coming all that way for a job that might only be £100 between both cars, it's too far"

This stuck me as a bit lazy but nether the less I even offered to bring the car to him for a look

He replied "I'm out at the moment text me later"

 

5th company a mobile mechanic who welds actually came to my house, priced it all up, we agreed and he said he would be here at 8am this morning!

No phone call, no text and no wicked welder!!

 

Basically as the area looks like it has been welded badly before I'd like the area cut out and re-fabricated I want to preserve this car and don't want a crappy mot patch weld which will just rot back out

 

Tbh I'm feeling really peed off by all of it! As the days for mot retest are sneaking up on me

 

Oh well, hopefully with all this cycling I might loose a stone

 

Hope you enjoyed my rant and any advise would be welcome

[derskine]

I'd jump at the chance to earn some extra money for welding a car - I always thought there were too many other people doing it hence no point in trying to earn money from it.

[Lord Sterling]

Sounds like a business opportunity for someone to advertise welding T-reg motors.

It does strike me as strange that people in that corner of the market actually turn down work which pays actual money "because itz a T-reg mayte" Do they think they're gonna get laughed at or something?

[af1]

It's all very strange! Maybe 15 year old steel is particularly hard to work on, although I have my donuts that this is the case derskine do you live in or near kent?

[derskine]

Old steel is perfectly fine and easy to weld, that guy is limiting his market if T reg is too old, how many 5 year old cars rot!

Unfortunately I couldn't be further away

[af1]

It's just a weak excuse for "I'm too lazy"

[Al Bundy]

I travel all over the country welding classic cars send me a pm if you still need it doing

[Grundig]

Had the same sort of response as you when getting quotes for welding (from those that could be bothered) stupid high quotes meant I would be quids in if I buy a decent mig welder & all the kit to do it myself (it's only practice, practice, practice I think)  ????

[brickwall]

The guy that did the major stuff on the RR had a price and I said I'd pay for petrol as he came from an hour away or so. He was delighted and did some wee extra bits and gave me welding tips too.

[Split_Pin]

My local garage is perfectly happy to weld my 14 year old car, in fact they enjoy it. Nothings a bother.

[jonny69]

Yeah I could never find anyone to do minor welding on my first car. That's why I got a small MIG and learned to do it myself. If you've got the space, the MIG comes in handy all the time

[SambaS]

Pics of finished job please!

[andy18s]

Obviously not a countryside welder as 15yr Disco's can be heard fizzing as they grumble past

[alf892]

I think they take the view it could turn into a much bigger job than expected...........as nearly every post on here with welding content will confirm.

 

Looking at that pic there is going to be plenty to do once you get the old patches off probably including work to adjoining bits as well as the 'hole' to do a proper job as opposed to a quick MoT patch

[PiperCub]

Yeah I could never find anyone to do minor welding on my first car. That's why I got a small MIG and learned to do it myself. If you've got the space, the MIG comes in handy all the time

That's what I did over 20 years ago, don't use it much but it's invaluable to have. It is really quite straightforward to use, just patience and practice is all.

 

Further, if you can spring for it, check out your local F-Ed college as they often run courses for welding etc and if they are anything remotely as good as the bodywork (welding - MIG,arc & gas, panel beating & spraying) course I did 20 years ago then it's money well spent. (30 weeks of term-time Saturday mornings - was less than £250 all in).

[320touring]

It's likely to be a combo of the following:

 

1.preferring small jobs, rather than ones which may get complicated.

 

2.difficult to ask someone for 300 on a 15 yr old car when the initial quote was 100.

 

3. People running older cars tend to be tight. .

 

 

This is not a comment on the OP-JUST observations of reasons why the responses he received were as they were..

[drum]

Welding upside down while lying under a car isn't much fun. I had to weld my sister's land cruiser because nobody else would touch it.

 

Out of interest, how much do the shite collective reckon it should cost to get that repaired properly?

[cort16]

There's no way I'd be a welder for hire fixing rust nearly always turns into a huge cluster fuck especially if you want to do it properly and not just wang a patch on.

I've never went to weld a car up and found there was less or the same amount of rust I initially thought. Because of the way cars are constructed if an outer panel has holed or gone porous you can

gaurentee the inner panel will have gone, which connects to the floor, which means the WHOLE interior needs to come out.

[320touring]

Because of the way cars are constructed if an outer panel has holed or gone porous you can

gaurentee the inner panel will have gone, which connects to the floor, which means the WHOLE interior needs to come out.

Bollocks. .windows wind down so you can get the hose in;)

[cort16]

I'm sure there was a post on retro rides a while back were someone had rented a welder4hire and they'd set fire to some of the interior so just fucked off and left it. To be fair I might have done the same.

[dugong]

I travel all over the country welding classic cars send me a pm if you still need it doing

Which is the correct answer.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I don't understand turning work down. The worst they could have done is have a look and say no not just dismiss it as it's old.

 

As for the twat not turning up......

[Bren]

A work colleague of my wife had a R plate almera - the sills had been patched at the back and had rotted again.

 

It was scrapped because MoT man declared it needed £400 worth of welding.

 

The owner remarked it was a shame I didnt do welding anymore - I do, but not in this case.

 

There is a big difference on what is acceptable ie, I went to town on my SD1, lots of new panels so it never needs to be done again, and what I would do on a £300 snotter.

 

Trouble is, the owners of many snotters want a full resto for £300 ( some people drive £250 cars not through circumstances but through choice ie they are tighter than a submarine hatch) it is always more serious/ widespread than you have been led to believe.

 

If you quote £100 for work then spend all morning drilling out a snapped bolt on something that had to be removed you can't really charge more - you end up arguing with vehicle owner.

 

Welding is like decorating and spraying - all in the preperation. Unfortunately the prep has to be paid for and therin lies the problem - its why a small repair can cost ££££.

[derskine]

I reckon not giving an overall price but quoting a price per hour is the best way.

[dollywobbler]

Problem is, Joe Public think welding takes just a few minutes. It usually does to be honest, but getting to the stage where you're welding is the REAL time-munching challenge. I bet any mobile welder gets a HUGE amount of folk expecting the world on a stick for naff all.

[mercrocker]

Has that chassis member been welded before?  I know the guys you refer to haven't called you back but pound to a pinch of shit they are expecting to see something just like the photo - rot in a structural part of  the car that has previously been repaired.   Its a bit of an open ended price tag, really - I had a hole like that in my Minor and it ended up being the thick end of 700 quid.   Most mobile welders have got plenty of work on and can turn a few quid in the time it takes to go and price a job properly.  No excuse for not being courteous enough to explain to you though and I would be pissed off too, in fact I do get pissed off with this sort of thing.....I don't think that's a cheap repair, I know the MOT is the immediate concern but if you like the car enough to worry about the next 2 or 3 MOTs as well, sometimes its better to shell out.  My Morry will never be worth what the welding has cost and to be honest I wouldn't/shouldn't have bought it if I had looked properly but that's 10 years ago and it would be like selling the dog now.....

[gordonbennet]

My old mate has welded hundreds of cars, but in the end he got quite selective about who he would work for.

 

I always appreciated his efforts, if it was a £200 job he got his lolly plus a drink, i and others were always welcome.

 

Others though seemed to think the job entailed putting a sticking plaster of steel over the hole, weld it in, job done....when he's done small jobs in the past and said give us a drink for that, some of the cheeky twats have actually fucked off with the words i'll buy you a pint when i see you in the band club.

 

Dare say the above lads have had the piss taken out of them before, not saying the OP is in that bracket.

[garbaldy]

I will think twice before offering to weld up a transit again I looked like an umpa loompa for a week god knows what ford steel is laced with.  it was a low mileage 2006 plate and what looked like sills turned into both inner and outer sills couple of out riggers steps and front arch, by heck they can rot worse than the older ones

[sheffcortinacentre]

yep what owner sees is tip of the iceberg as the see a smallish hole & when they get it back all they see is a plate over it they very rarely see the bit inbetween.

if they take it for a test the following year & its gone near your repair you've ripped them definitely ripped them off.

[mat_the_cat]

I do a little bit of mechanic work on the side, and generally turn down requests for welding. I find it difficult to limit myself to just slapping a patch over the top of a hole when that's all they're willing to pay for. Plus, if I'm going to be doing any welding I've had enough to do on my own fleet during the past few years! It's a job I can do, but not one I enjoy.